E3 2004: Xbox Goes Wireless

You would not believe how big Hip Gear's booth is this year. The company is a relative newcomer to the peripheral market, but something must be going right. I mean, it was bigger than even Logitech's, which says a lot considering that Logitech is pretty much the king. The purpose of the booth was raise awareness more than pump a new line of products. However, there was one announcement that is extremely important to gamers. Hip Gear is releasing a wireless Xbox controller that is compatible with Xbox Live.

There are many wireless Xbox controllers on the market, several of them very good. The problem is that none can support the headset, which is really an integral part of online play. The problem was battery life and bandwidth. Hip Gear has tackled the problem with Bluetooth. Clever, huh? When I saw the controller I wondered why no one else had tried this approach. The pad ships with a two-way transceiver that plug into a controller port. The pad uses 2.4GHz RF technology to handle gaming commands. The voice commands are handled by the Bluetooth transceiver.

As you can see, the headset plugs into a port on the front of the controller. A headset comes bundled with the controller. I am hoping the jack is standard 1/8-inch so you could upgrade headsets, but either way this is a pretty big first. As the headset connects directly to the controller, you get volume control and mute at your fingertips. The controller draws power from four AA batteries, which provide between 50 and 100 hours, depending on how much rumble effect you use. The pad has a 30-foot range. For extras you get macro programming and turbo.

Unfortunately, the company only had one unit on hand; it was the first working sample they received from the factory. A company rep, the young fella in the pics, was the only person using it. He was online and playing without a hitch.

The controller will start shipping in October for $79.00-$89.00. We will be getting an early review unit, so keep your eyes open for more news. Again, this is a major release, as you Xbox Live heads will finally be able to get rid of the rest of your cables. Let's hope it works well.